Project Name: Naju White House

Location: Naju-si, South Korea

Design Team: PLAN Architects office

Total Floor Area: 236 m²

Completion: 2024

Photography: Yoon, joon hwan

Feature: PLAN Architects office's "Naju White House" demonstrates how innovative split-level spatial integration strategies and masterful central courtyard design philosophy fusion techniques can transform a residence at the entrance of a cul-de-sac into a culturally profound sanctuary of multigenerational family cohesion and spatial harmony.

This 236-square-meter residence dramatically spans across three floor levels, presenting itself as a profound meditation on contemporary Korean multigenerational living lifestyle integration, family privacy protection, and traditional spatial elements fusion. Through carefully considered spatial organization and material selection, it creates a living experience that seamlessly weaves functionality with emotional connectivity.

The project's most compelling design feature lies in its fundamental respect and reimagining of family members' different daily rhythms. The central garden serves not only as a landscape element but becomes the core of spatial organization, ensuring the living room, kitchen, and workshop gracefully surround this emotional center. This design strategy creates continuous dialogue among family members, achieving a visual harmonious coexistence effect.

PLAN's design language fluently expresses contemporary Korean architectural vernacular, employing modern applications of natural materials such as wood, stone, and concrete to redefine multigenerational living experiences. Unified white exterior is innovatively used to unify architectural language while cleverly creating rich spatial layers internally. This bold integration strategy not only adds visual continuity to spaces but cleverly accommodates the complex functional demands of multigenerational family life.

Most remarkably, the architects create comfortable living environments between different functional zones through clever manipulation of varying floor heights and spatial sequences. The grandparents' rooms positioned at the base level employ movable partition design, complemented by strategic floor distribution that allows visual connections throughout the residence, while the couple's private space establishes visual connection with panoramic views through its elevated 2.5th floor position, creating an atmosphere that is both independent and connected.

Spatial strategy continues this harmonious coexistence design philosophy among family members. An internal alley with gentle slope guides visitors into the residence, with coarse rocks, flagstones, soil, trees, and grasses preserving the properties of the land that existed before construction, reinforcing the integration between residence and natural environment. Different floor heights promote eye contact among family members and abundant natural light, ensuring warm and pleasant living environments, perfectly suited for family life and multigenerational living.

Design Team: PLAN Architects office stands as a distinguished representative of new-generation Korean architectural practice, led by principal architect Lim Tae hyung and comprised of young professionals with diverse cultural backgrounds and values, having established a pioneering reputation in contemporary residential design and environmentally responsive architectural language innovation since its founding. This Gwangju-based practice redefines contemporary Korean architects' role in international design discourse through coordinated integration of design and environment.

PLAN brings exceptional spatial sensitivity design perspectives and deep understanding of site-specific approaches to architectural practice. The practice has garnered recognition for its commitment to integrating traditional Korean architectural wisdom with contemporary international modernism, accumulating rich experience across residential, institutional, and cultural project domains, with notable works including the Jisan Stone House which received the 2022 Gwangju Architecture Award Grand Prize, the internationally recognized Yeongcheon Three Brothers House, and the Gumi Yangpo Municipal Library which earned the 2021 Korean Architecture Culture Grand Prize.

The firm's design philosophy emphasizes that architecture should transcend physical spatial limitations, designed not merely to satisfy basic functional needs but to serve as the foundational backdrop sustaining human life at the forefront of urban, environmental, and cultural contexts. Through deep attention to site-specific recognition and sensory experience, working across diversified projects from residential to public spaces, they believe the best architecture results from an intellectual inquiry process that explores multiple possibilities rather than seeking singular solutions. PLAN believes architecture should serve as a carrier of inhabitants' lifestyles and family memory, creating unique environmentally responsive living experiences through strategic spatial organization and material selection.

Beyond practice, through thoughtful integration of natural materials with modern construction methods, local cultural conditions and international design elements application, and time-tested Korean architectural wisdom, PLAN has established itself as a significant contributor to contemporary Korean architectural discourse, creating architectural works that are both environmentally responsive and embrace global design vision. The firm currently occupies a unique position within Korea's regional architectural landscape, focusing on creating high-quality architectural culture accessible within universal and public domains.